Things We Remember

January 31, 1985. A day that will stay in my head forever. That was the day I had my back surgery. I was 12 years old and had Scoliosis.

I won't go into the details of the surgery, but I will say this: Sometimes in childhood there are things which make such a huge impression on you that you will never forget the details. Unbelievably, I still remember my phone number and room number, my nurses names, and other seemingly unimportant facts about that time.

It's just like any other important event. You remember where you were and what you were doing when something occurred.

I remember what was going on when the Challenger exploded. I was in school taking an English test. It was almost a year to the day after my surgery. I remember September 11, I was at work. It was surreal sitting with all our co-workers in the conference room watching the coverage on TV. It stopped us all.

There are certain events in history that will forever be burned in our minds. I remember all those events. I remember the conversations. At the time, all I kept saying to myself was 'Take it back'. I didn't want it to be real. I wanted to rewind it and do it all over again.

Unfortunately we can't do anything about some of these difficult things, we can only move forward. We can take what we learn and apply it to other areas of our lives. We can learn to be more tolerant of others. When these things happen, it causes us to take stock of what is really important. Family and friends are first on that list.

I used to work at a bar. On September 11, we left work early from my day time job as we all just wanted to be near loved ones. That evening I went up to the bar and sat with all my friends. We just sat there, together, and watched the news, together. I remember I wanted nothing more than to be with the people I cared about. That's how we came through it and rebuilt.

Let your family and friends be the ones you go to when important things happen.

Love to all!